Saturday, November 29, 2014

Godzilla (2014)

If we can get over the fact that skyscraper tall monsters are physically impossible, and the fact that no creature could possibly live off of nuclear radiation, and the fact if such creatures did exist we would have long since known about them, and maybe a few other details that don't quite make logical sense, then certainly we can enjoy Godzilla for the pretty good disaster/adventure movie that it is. Movies like this are designed to be a grand spectacle, but unlike all its predecessors, it tells a good story with at least a couple of characters that we care about.

There is moment in Godzilla that had me saying, "Oh, come on! This is ripping off 2001: A Space Odyssey!" That moment is during the Parachute Scene. Compare the music in this scene to the music in scenes 1 and 2 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the same music. It turns out the music is Requiem by Gyorgy Ligeti. The music made me think of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it is also eerily effective in this particular scene. One gets a sense of diving into the unknown. I wonder how many people who saw or will see Godzilla never saw the 46 year old 2001: A Space Odyssey, and therefor will never notice the connection between the two?